Posted by canaryyuk on
URL: https://www.es-forum.com/BIGGEST-WI-FI-CLOUD-IS-IN-RURAL-OREGON-what-s-in-YOUR-area-tp1539714p1539716.html

cyanide pill, anyone? :( :(

--- In [hidden email], Jan Jenson <vizual@a...> wrote:
>
>
> If you don't have electrical sensitivity... and/or diminishing
health, prop open
> a laptop and read his e-mail or, with just a keystroke, check the
moisture
> of his crops.
>
> As the jack rabbits run by, he can watch CNN online, play a video
game or
> turn his irrigation sprinklers on and off, all from the air
conditioned
> comfort of his truck.
>
> While cities around the country are battling over plans to offer
free or
> cheap Internet access, this lonely terrain is served by what is
billed as
> the world's largest hotspot, a wireless cloud that stretches over
700 square
> miles of landscape so dry and desolate it could have been lifted
from a
> cowboy tune.
>
> Similar wireless projects have been stymied in major metropolitan
areas by
> telephone and cable TV companies, which have poured money into
legislative
> bills aimed at discouraging such competition. In Philadelphia, for
instance,
> plans to blanket the entire city with Wi- Fi fueled a battle in the
> Pennsylvania legislature with Verizon Communications Inc., leading
to a law
> that limits the ability of every other municipality in the state to
do the
> same.
>
> But here among the thistle, large providers such as local phone
company
> Qwest Communications International Inc. see little profit
potential. So
> wireless entrepreneur Fred Ziari drew no resistance for his proposed
> wireless network, enabling him to quickly build the $5 million
cloud at his
> own expense.
>
> While his service is free to the general public, Ziari is
recovering the
> investment through contracts with more than 30 city and county
agencies, as
> well as big farms such as Hale's, whose onion empire supplies over
> two-thirds of the red onions used by the Subway sandwich chain.
Morrow
> County, for instance, pays $180,000 a year for Ziari's service.
>
> Each client, he said, pays not only for yearly access to the cloud
but also
> for specialized applications such as a program that allows local
officials
> to check parking meters remotely.
>
> "Internet service is only a small part of it. The same wireless
system is
> used for surveillance, for intelligent traffic system, for
intelligent
> transportation, for telemedicine and for distance education," said
Ziari,
> who immigrated to the United States from the tiny Iranian town of
Shahi on
> the Caspian Sea.
>
> It's revolutionizing the way business is conducted in this former
frontier
> town.
>
> "Outside the cloud, I can't even get DSL," said Hale. "When I'm
inside it, I
> can take a picture of one of my onions, plug it into my laptop and
send it
> to the Subway guys in San Diego and say, 'Here's a picture of my
crop.'"
>
> Even as the number of Wi-Fi hotspots continues to mushroom, with
72,140 now
> registered globally, only a handful of cities have managed to
blanket their
> entire urban core with wireless Internet access.
>
> Hundreds of cities from San Francisco to Philadelphia have
announced plans
> to throw a wireless tarp over their communities, and a few smaller
ones such
> as Chaska, Minn., have succeeded. But only Ziari appears to have
pinned down
> such a large area.
>
> The wireless network uses both short-range Wi-Fi signals and a
version of a
> related, longer-range technology known as WiMax. While Wi-Fi and
WiMax
> antennas typically connect with the Internet over a physical cable,
the
> transmitters in this network act as wireless relay points, passing
the
> signal along through a technique known as "meshing."
>
> Ziara's company built the towers to match the topography. They are
as close
> as a quarter-of-a-mile apart inside towns like Hermiston, and as
far apart
> as several miles in the high-desert wilderness.
>
> Asked why other municipalities have had a harder time succeeding, he
> replies: "Politics."
>
> "If we get a go-ahead, we can do a fairly good-sized city in a
month or
> two," said Ziari. "The problem is getting the go-ahead."
>
> "The 'Who's-going-to-get-a-piece-of-the action?' has been a big
part of the
> obstacles," said Karen Hanley, senior marketing director of the
Austin,
> Texas-based Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group.
>
> No major players were vying for the action here, making the area's
> remoteness _ which in the past slowed technological progress _ the
key to
> its advance.
>
> Morrow County, which borders Hermiston and spans 2,000 square
miles, still
> doesn't have a single traffic light. It only has 11,000 people, a
number
> that does not justify a large telecom player making a big
investment, said
> Casey Beard, the director of emergency management for the county.
>
> Beard was looking for a wireless provider two years ago when Ziari
came
> knocking. The county first considered his proposal at the end of
2002 and by
> mid-2003, part of the cloud was up.
>
> The high desert around Hermiston also happens to be the home of one
of the
> nation's largest stockpiles of Cold War-era chemical weapons. Under
federal
> guidelines, local government officials were required to devise an
emergency
> evacuation plan for the accidental release of nerve and mustard
agents.
>
> Now, emergency responders in the three counties surrounding the
Umatilla
> Chemical Depot are equipped with laptop computers that are Wi-Fi
ready.
> These laptops are set up to detail the size and direction of a
potential
> chemical leak, enabling responders to direct evacuees from the
field.
> Traffic lights and billboards posting evacuation messages can also
be
> controlled remotely over the wireless network.
>
> "We had to find a way to transmit huge amounts of data _ pictures,
plume
> charts.... All that data is very complex and it's hard over radio
to relay
> to someone wearing chemical protective gear," said Beard.
>
> And for the Hermiston Police Department, having squad cars equipped
with a
> wireless laptop means officers can work less overtime by being able
to file
> their crime reports from the field.
>
> While the network was initially set up for the benefit of city and
county
> officials, it's the area's businesses that stand to gain the most,
say
> industry experts.
>
> For the Columbia River Port of Umatilla, one of the largest grain
ports in
> the nation, the wireless network is being used to set up a high-tech
> security perimeter that will scan bar codes on incoming cargo.
>
> "It has opened our eyes and minds to possibilities. Now that we're
not tied
> to offices and wires and poles, now what can we do?" said Kim
Puzey, port
> director.
>
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